Discussion Like Bald Cypresses, Pond Cypresses growing in water have a characteristic growth trait called cypress knees; these are woody projections sent above the water from the roots. Pond Cypress is less likely than baldcypress to have knees, and when it does have them, they are shorter and more rounded. Its fluted base tends to have rounded rather than sharp ridges and its barkis usually more coarsely ridged. Branches more ascending thanvthose of baldcypress. Seedlings and fast-growing shoots of pondcypress, however, much like the typical variety of baldcypress. Despite the usual differences in the two varieties, it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish them.